Chapter 11: The Lady, Wooed
JUST as Shinmyou, his face still hidden, was about to exit through the door at stage right, a burst of excitement echoed throughout the room.
I followed everyone else’s gazes to that same door, from which a boy in a tailcoat had exited. His short black hair shone in the light. As his cool eyes gazed around the room, the din quieted down.
That boy had the same face as Chouko, the same refined air, but he introduced himself with a different name.
“The Return to the Moon Ceremony is now complete. Chouko Tsukuyomi has returned to the moon. As the head of our family, I, Kogetsu Tsukuyomi, would like to finish the evening’s festivities by offering up my prayers for the prosperity of the Mochizukis, the Tsukuyomis, and all present.”
As his sonorous voice announced the ceremony’s end, the silence was shattered by a round of applause.
Uncertain of what was happening, Shizuku and I started looking around. As we did, I could hear words of welcome spreading throughout the room.
“Oh, he’s the eldest son.”
“He’s back.”
I looked to Mikazuki for an explanation, but as I did, a familiar voice called me from behind him.
“Urara!”
“...Chouko!”
The person pushing through the surging crowds, making his way toward me, was without a doubt my Chouko.
And yet, at the same time, he wasn’t the Chouko I knew.
Who was this person, so impeccable in his tailcoat? This handsome boy bathed in the hungry stares of hordes of young ladies. I was the one who had been so desperate to see him, and yet now that I had my chance, I was suddenly afraid of this stranger.
“I’ve so wanted to see you, Urara.”
As have I. So much so that I continued to call you, even when you wouldn’t answer.
But for some reason, the words just wouldn’t come out.
In spite of my timidity, Chouko stood before me. With a graceful motion, he slid a white rose from the breast pocket of his tailcoat and placed it in my hair.
“It suits you perfectly,” he breathed.
✦ ✦ ✦
A commotion arose around us.
“Who was that the Tsukuyomi boy just gave a white rose to?”
The whispered words rippled throughout the room like a game of Telephone. Ah, so Chouko really was the eldest child of the Tsukuyomi family. He had downplayed his significance. He paid their chatter no mind, instead offering me his hand.
“May I have this dance? We promised, after all.”
Yes, the promise we made that day. I remembered. Of course. I had been so dedicated to practicing the guy part. But the truth was there had been no need. All of a sudden, my mind flooded with memories of my time with Chouko.
Chouko gave me quizzical look, puzzled over my lack of a response, and called my name once more. “Urara?”
How should I respond?
Kogetsu? I’m sure that was his name, but still, my heart knew him as Chouko.
I couldn’t breathe. My mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. I had been caught off guard, hadn’t expected to meet him like this, looking as he did.
And so...
“I’m sorry!” I shouted, gave a swift curtsy, and fled the room.
It was the first time I realized how difficult running in a long dress was.
I had worn them everyday in my past life, but no one would have approved of the daughter of a nobleman running, and in this life, I had little occasion to wear a fancy gown.
So running like this was awkward, and I quickly found myself breathless. Not only that, but I couldn’t leave wearing this dress, so I had no choice but to find a place to hide. In the end, my only option was to return to the White Lily Room.
I slipped into the room and quickly locked the door behind me. Even though I was worried about wrinkling the dress, I sunk onto the sofa.
“Oh no! How did everything go so wrong?!”
I had been so enthusiastic coming here, but in the end, I was as spineless as ever.
I had finally been able to stand my ground with Shinmyou and the others, and yet, the second I had finally been able to see Chouko, I ran away. I really was pathetic.
I made such a point to say that I was going to live with no regrets, but I had ultimately failed.
“I’m so useless...”
“No, I’m the useless one, Urara.”
Hearing a voice directly behind me, my body trembled.
Chouko? But how? I had locked the door. But then I remembered. This room was connected to the Royal Lotus Room by an interior door.
That most certainly had been how Chouko had gotten in. He came after me.
I froze, unable to look back at him. But the sound of his clothes rustling drew nearer.
“I really am useless. Leaving you without a word and yet longing for you to want to get to know me,” he said, his slender fingers brushing my cheek from behind. He had removed the gloves he wore earlier, and I could feel the warmth in his fingertips. I trembled a bit in surprise at that heat.
“U-Um, Chouko...?”
“Kogetsu.”
“Pardon?”
“There is no more Chouko. Please call me Kogetsu, Urara.”
I could feel his fingertips quiver slightly against my cheek.
Was he as afraid as I was? That he might have been spirited away forever without seeing me again or getting to tell me how he really felt—
I didn’t want to feel those sad emotions again. Nor did I want to make him feel them.
I closed my mouth and took his hand, squeezing it in my own. I decided to put my feelings into words, without running away, so there could be no misunderstanding.
“Let’s talk this all out. I want to know all about you...Kogetsu.”
As I said this, Kogetsu pulled his hand away from my cheek and hugged me from behind.
“I finally caught you.”
“!”
His short hair brushed the back of my neck. Unlike Chouko’s smooth hair, the tips of his freshly cut locks prickled my skin a bit, though the sensation wasn’t a bad one. On the contrary, it was rather pleasant.
“I want to learn all about you, too, Urara. To hear everything you have to say.” Then he squeezed me tighter and whispered in my ear: “I love you.”
He sat and listened to my story in silence, nodding along.
“Um...do you really believe me?”
“About your past life? Absolutely. My Urara would never lie.”
“Right.”
“Moreover, that level of refinement isn’t something you learn in a day. There is no other explanation. Your manners, the way you could ride a horse, and the way you dance...even though we haven’t danced together yet, I’m told you’re rather skilled,” he said, sitting next to me, his right arm around my waist while his left hand held mine.
It seemed as if he didn’t want me running away.
“But there’s still one thing you haven’t told me. Would you now?”
“Something I haven’t told you...?”
I told him about my past life as a noble and my education. Beyond that, I didn’t think anything else really had any bearing on my current life, so I didn’t think there was any need to bring it up.
He stared at me, furrowing his brow. “What’s this I hear about you having been engaged to a prince?” he asked in a sullen tone.
Shizuku and Shinmyou! What had the two of them told him? Shizuku blurted out the story about the prince just to get at Shinmyou, and Shinmyou in turn was apparently the one who told Kogetsu, perhaps to get a rise out of him.
“That’s not what happened! It was never a formal proposal, just a hint of interest from the second prince...”
“Oh, so he was interested, then?”
“Well...”
I had seen this once before, when he had been Chouko, but now he was undeniably upset.
“It’s just...he was younger. This happened when he was thirteen.”
“I was eleven when I fell in love with you at first sight, Urara. Age had nothing to do with it.”
That was the real reason he got as upset as he did.
Wait? Eleven? What did he mean?
I had heard lots of stories of Kogetsu and the Tsukuyomi family from Shinmyou and the others. And there were so many other things I thought it might be better to ask them. But I couldn’t risk muddying the waters and not being up front with him here and now.
“I’m Urara Tendou now. And the only one I want by my side is you, Kogetsu,” I said seriously, but the mood began to soften. I was a bit embarrassed, but it was the truth. His arm around my waist tightened.
“Right. Well, I don’t want to ever risk missing my chance again.”
“Chance?”
I forgot to blink, my eyes were so fixated on him. My heart throbbed.
I held my breath. If he told me he loved me one more time, I knew I could say it back. But—
“I promise to love you for the rest of my life. Please be my bride.”
Wh-Wh-Why was he proposing to me all of a sudden?!